


Heat of the Moment

by schulott



Series: And we find home in each other's arms [2]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Again, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Chinese GP 2021, Future Fic, M/M, The Author Regrets Everything, background parles, mostly POV Callum, no beta i just exist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:34:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28530786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schulott/pseuds/schulott
Summary: Sometimes things get said in the heat of the moment, and sometimes they get taken out of context. Callum swears he will do everything to fix it.(Or: Just the whole Chinese GP weekend 2021 in Callum's POV)(Near-)future fic surrounding the Chinese GP.
Relationships: Callum Ilott/Mick Schumacher
Series: And we find home in each other's arms [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2089959
Comments: 22
Kudos: 84





	Heat of the Moment

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not claim to own any of these characters, and this is a work of fiction. This is not intended to be any reference to, or be any likeness to any people or events in real life. No economic value of any kind has been produced in writing this.
> 
> This took more than 24 hours to write and I literally regret being alive. I have to be at work tomorrow and I'm not sleeping LMAO
> 
> Pour one out for me, y'all.

**5 April 2021**

_ Monday 17:31 CET _

Callum checks his suitcases once again, digging through it to make sure he has plenty of his own clothes and team kit packed with him, turning it over to the other side and making sure that his fireproofs are also there, and then opening his helmet cases just to make sure that there is indeed something inside. He would not say that he is nervous, at least, not yet, but he would rather not pull some incredibly stupid gaffes of forgetting things at home when he is supposed to drive a car. Plus, it is not every time that there would be a knight in shining armour coming to your rescue, as Callum says that out loud to Mick, who is talking to him on speakerphone. It just elicits a surprised laugh out of Mick on the other end of the line, without making a comment, instead starting to run through a mental checklist of essentials and ask if Callum has them packed with him, Callum makes sounds of assent, remarking that Mick is forever prepared, before telling him to get on with whatever he was supposed to be doing and they would speak on the ground in Shanghai.

All things considered, the run up to China is not really that out of the ordinary for Callum, with time being spent on seat fits and sitting through more engineering meetings, as well as learning for real about the quirks and buttons he has to navigate when in the car, even if he already has some basic idea of it all given his role as a test driver and the long nights he has spent in the simulator, in search of those elusive tenths that the cars were lacking in Friday practice sessions. It all seems similar to all the times before, in a fundamental sense, when he has had to, or at least was supposed to, do testing in a new car, just that the badge on the car was different.

Or maybe it was really all the difference that truly mattered, because he is about to drive the red car during a race weekend, even if it is just a practice session. He pays way more attention than he otherwise would through these pre-race meetings, actually getting to sit in the drivers’ meetings as well, and actually getting addressed when something relevant to the practice program is mentioned, with a quarter of the team’s Friday plans having fallen on his shoulders.

* * *

**3 April 2021**

_ Saturday 22:41 CET _

  
  


He seems to spend every single bit of his waking moments, since walking into the meeting in Maranello, singularly focused on the task at hand, only telling his family that he is not flying back just yet, or in fact in a while, without providing any context, until the news drops. Then there is suddenly a flurry of activity everywhere - in the media, in his texts, on social media - you name it. He focuses on doing the things that matter, beyond his preparation work, posting something on Instagram about the news for all the PR he is supposed to do, and otherwise responding to texts and calls from family and friends, though there is one in particular that catches his attention, and draws a laugh out of him (even if it is the reverse of the usual case where he takes upon himself to make the other laugh)

From: M ❤️️

_ I take it that I don’t need to fly back and burn the whole place down after all? _

From: Ilotty

_ didn’t know that you relished the opportunity for destruction that much _

From: M ❤️️

_ You’d be surprised. _

_ In all seriousness I know you’d do well. _

❤️️

From: Ilotty

❤️️

He would not say there is a lot of  _ fanfare  _ for the occasion, and he likes it just fine, that he would prefer as is, as he is not sure if his head would just fall off from the sheer boredom and repetitiveness of having to talk to a flurry of media that would end up just asking the same questions that do not really offer much by way of substance. He just goes to the factory when asked, and does a couple of short interviews with the PR team, one in English, and the other in Italian. He would not say he stumbled through them, since he handles these stuff just fine, but he is just aware of the fact that he is actually speaking Italian and not for the purpose of speaking to the shopkeeper in that corner store close to his old flat in Maranello, or ordering from a local take out place, or speaking to some team members who feel more comfortable to converse in Italian. Even Mick has only got to witness a limited snippet of him speaking in Italian, which should be a good indicator of how often Callum is seen doing it, notwithstanding his command of the language.

For no reason other than for his own entertainment (and his boyfriend’s), he got the PR team to send him a supercut of outtakes of him doing the interviews, and sending them to Mick in the evening, when Callum himself is done doing the workout that is essentially sitting on a yoga ball and holding a weight plate in his hand and turning it like he is driving a car.

While he is waiting to see how Mick would react to that video, he instead first gets a notification of himself getting tagged in an Insta story by Marcus. He already knows it would not be something terribly flattering if it comes from his best friend, given they are not currently out and about or doing anything special that might have warranted being included in an Insta story. When he opens it, he sees it is a candid of himself taken from the doorway, sitting on the same yoga ball and turning the weight plate while trying to balance himself.

“These people are getting weirder by the day” the caption on the picture reads, written in mighty Comic Sans as well, and Callum cannot help but yell into the hallway, from where he is currently lying down on the floor. “Armstrong, you  _ sloth _ , why are you doing me so dirty?”

The only response he gets is delighted cackling from somewhere in the living room. His best friend is really the worst sometimes. Callum still has not nailed down his opinion on the matter, even when they have been friends for so long, that his thoughts on that change by the hour still.

Mick’s reaction comes, eventually. Unfortunately, he had to bring up that god forsaken picture first, remarking how  _ flattering _ it looks, to which Callum just solemnly replied that he hoped that Mick was sharing his pain on the matter. It is a good five minutes later when he finally gets around to the outtakes, and Mick just sends him the “eyes” emoji, before remarking that being multilingual is hot. Callum, without missing a beat, retorts that Mick is just calling himself hot when he is the real multilingual one between them. Mick had the audacity to send a selfie of himself, seemingly in the gym and with a few strands of hair falling into his eyes and captioning it with a  _ ‘maybe so _ ’. That boy is lucky that Callum loves him.

He sometimes wonders what has he done to deserve the misfortune to be surrounded by these two, but that is just his dramaticness talking, because he is way more than content with what he has at the moment, with a loving boyfriend and an annoying best friend who looks out for him.

* * *

**6 April 2021**

_ Tuesday 13:07 CET _

On reflection, one of the perks of living in Maranello when you work for the red team, if you are in the travelling party, is that there is not really much to worry about sorting out at least your outbound travel. There were no reason for Callum to turn down travelling with the team, given they were aware that he has been staying in Maranello lately, so his ticketing, visas and all other bureaucratic tasks are all sorted by the team along with other team members, and also being the reason why he is in Bologna airport with people like Mattia in his periphery somewhere, as they wait for the flight out to China, while the trackside team responsible for setting up has already been on the ground since Monday.

He is dropped off at the airport by Marcus, who does not have a race until Monaco, and on the way there had been joking about Friday being a washout again. Callum called him mean, but he has not expected anything less from the Kiwi, and instead saying that he had his swim shorts packed and would just go and swim on track if it happens again. It was a wonder that Marcus did not swerve with how hard he was laughing, and Callum actually feared for his life for a moment sitting in that passenger seat.

He gets a text from Mick, while he is just scrolling on his phone, figuring out which podcast he should listen to so he could fall asleep quickly and not land with massive jet lag and walk around like a zombie.

From: M ❤️️

_ Lunch together? _

Callum ponders the offer for a moment, mentally working out his schedule when they get on the ground, before deciding it should be fine.

From: Ilotty

_ if nothing comes up with the team, sure _

They figure out that they are staying in the same hotel, which makes matters easier, and Callum promises to send his room number after he gets checked-in when he arrives. He pockets his phone when he sees Mattia walking over, and they have a brief conversation about the expectations for the session, but also that he has faith in him and that he should do fine on track. Callum nods along and says the appropriate responses, not faltering one bit, before the gate agent comes on the PA system and announces their flight is ready to board, and Mattia returns to the group of team leaders to walk with them, while Callum hangs back with the PR staff.

* * *

**7 April 2021**

_ Wednesday 10:14 CST _

Callum is not unsuccessful in his bid to sleep more on the plane to combat jet lag, he would say, but he could certainly do with more of a rest to adjust himself to be in-tune with the timezones. It feels like flying into New Zealand to do TRS, or flying into Hong Kong to take the ferry over to do Macau all over again, finding himself all the way across the world, with the timezone change greater than the window that he is used to over the past few years. It is not a night race either, so they would not be operating under an offset schedule, so he just needs to quickly adjust to it.

The ride from the airport is relatively quick, with the circuit and the hotel both being quite out of the way, and the journey is considerably easy with not much traffic to navigate through. Callum, when arriving at the door of the hotel, steps out of one of the many hired cars the team has rented, and sees that the hotel is quite busy - which is to be expected when there is scant few options if teams do not want to be making herculean journeys every day just to get to the track. He sees some personnel from some other team milling around the front desk, before hearing a booming laughter somewhere to the side that is recognisable but could not be placed. He looks in the direction of the sound, and sees Yuki standing there, nodding along, and next to him is the source of that laugh - Pierre, who is talking animatedly about something still, describing something complete with gestures. Callum nods at some of the Alpha Tauri personnel that sees him, as he walks over to greet the pair. He bumps fists with Yuki, and gets a double slap on his shoulder by Pierre, who loops him in immediately to some story about himself and Charles nearly getting into trouble at the same hotel a few years ago or some other things. Later he gets to ask Yuki how he is finding the step up with the Bulls, the fact that Callum was swiftly picked up and dropped by the program when he was barely seventeen just because he did not do a Verstappen not lost to any of them. He likes Yuki, who is always humble and polite with everything he says, a bit quiet probably, and he wonders if being paired with Pierre, who always seems excited and loud, would bring him out of his shell a little. Pierre also pats him on the shoulder again when Callum is about to walk back over to his team, wishing him good luck for the FP session, telling him to give Charles a run for his money. He laughs, saying he would try his best to annoy him.

Callum has finally figured out his room card and its whereabouts a good five minutes later, by then most people from the Alpha Tauri team are already on their way to the rooms, as does a small portion of the Ferrari team (like Mattia). He has just tapped out his room number to Mick, when he hears some commotion in Italian somewhere by the door. He pokes his head back around the corner from the elevator lobby, just in time to see Mick, dressed in his pastel pink hoodie with a cap worn backwards, walking through the front door of the hotel just by himself. The hilarity of the scene is not lost on Callum, as he sees team personnel greeting Mick, who is supposed to be a rival driver of another team, being greeted enthusiastically by a bunch of Italians. Callum just hangs around in the corner, ignoring the elevator that has just arrived and let out a ping, waiting until Mick makes it through the group and sees him in the distance. Callum just rests himself against the handlebar of his suitcase and raises his eyebrows in greeting, which is mirrored by Mick, who then takes out his phone and taps quickly as he walks up to the counter. He feels his phone vibrate in his pocket, pulling it out to see Mick has just texted him, asking him to wait up.

Mick walks up to him a moment later, his hand twitching a little but refraining from doing anything with at least a dozen pairs of eyes’ attention still on him. Callum just chuckles as he presses the call button for the elevator again. “Hello there, Prince of Ferrari,” which earns him a roll of eyes. The elevator door opens then, so they step inside before either saying anything more, Mick stabbing the close button with more force than necessary.

Callum raises his eyebrows when he notices that Mick is not pressing any buttons after Callum has pressed the one for the third floor, and then following him out at that floor, just seeing a crinkle of his eyes as they walk side by side down the corridor, Callum looking for his room, and Mick continuing with whatever games he is playing. Mick stops just a few paces behind him just as Callum spots his own room, and he turns around to narrow his eyes at his boyfriend, who just sticks the key card into the door that is more or less across the hallway of Callum’s.

“Oh, what a coincidence.” Mick quips, while his tone indicates that it is anything but. Callum just snorts and shakes his head as he enters his own room, pushing his suitcases in the corner and retrieves his belongings, like his laptop and his Switch to put them on the table, as well as a change of clothes so he could get a quick shower just to wake himself up. He texts Mick quickly about his plan, who just says he would be doing the same.

One quick shower later, Callum returns to a text from Mick telling him to let him know when he is ready, that maybe they could grab something light from the restaurant downstairs, him having already taken a look at the menu that they have things that are not too heavy that would fall afoul of their diet plans. Callum shoots back an affirmation, telling Mick to come over and that the door is unlocked. Thus, he has just managed to pull on a pair of shorts when Mick pushes into the room, commenting that it is a nice welcome given that Callum has still not yet put on a shirt. Instead of responding, Callum just gives Mick a quick kiss before pulling on a t-shirt, figuring that it would not be too cold indoors, grabbing his wallet and access passeses with him, before deciding he would grab a cardigan with him too just in case, and following Mick out of his room.

“Do I want to know how you end up with a room pretty much next to mine?” Callum asks, as they pass Mick’s door. Mick at least knows to blush, like he is caught doing something he is not supposed to.

“I might have asked them if they have some room left over on the third floor with the room number in the sixties.” Mick says, fiddling with the cap he is still wearing backwards. Callum snorts, but also feels a burst of affection in his chest for this boy, because sometimes Mick just does things that are a bit dumb but cute, and he likes the idea of being the reason that he is acting like that. So he just rubs a hand against the small of Mick’s back, saying that it is cute, which earned him a protest of indignation from his boyfriend.

They quiet down and revert to safer conversations when they step out of the elevator, aware that anyone could be around them, as Callum nods at Kym, who greets both of them and also tells Callum he hopes to get a good photo or two of them for the weekend. Mick waves at Seb, who is in the mid-distance, returning from the outdoor sitting area, with a phone pressed to his face and talking to someone. They end up finding a good place to sit in the restaurant, with the place not too packed and the waiter willing to let them choose their own place. They communicate with their eyes only as they both eye up a table that would offer the best privacy, an implicit requirement that Callum is only too happy to comply with, before agreeing on the one at the corner that also overlooks the track in the distance.

They talk about their plans and obligations for the weekend, obviously without giving away their team’s detailed programs or information. Even if they trust each other, it is better to not incriminate themselves, or let anything be picked up by prying eyes and ears, such is the shitstorm that they deal with on a daily basis when you are public personalities working in a high pressure sport. They just talk about their plans on the when and wheres of their track walks, what other duties, like speaking to the media, they have to do over the weekend, and about some thoughts they have had about the track, having driven it in the sim. It is not like they just give away all their secrets, as they are racers after all, but Mick is also of the belief that in the end it is how the driver performs on the track that matters, and telling someone what they thought of a corner is not going to hurt him, especially when he is driving for what is essentially a back marker, especially when Callum is not even competing against him, but especially it is Callum, who he knows is not going to harm him - if not even when they were fighting for a championship, why now? Mick also made Callum speak to him in Italian, just because he wants to hear it in real time beyond simple sentences and words. Callum had commented that Mick probably just wants to make fun of him, but he nonetheless complied, and Mick, to his credit, really did not laugh at him at all.

Callum ends up having salad with apple juice only, not feeling especially hungry having just gotten off the plane, while Mick has some sort of veggie panini, which ends up smearing a bit of sourcream on his nose somehow, and Callum had to resist the urge to reach out and wipe it off himself, instead just pointing it out to Mick, who scrambles to wipe it off. (“I have an image to maintain!” He mumbles indignantly when Callum points out that he did not need to scramble.)

Mick follows Callum to his room again, this time plopping on the plush seat by the window, commenting that the view of his room is better. Callum has to go on an early trackwalk in an hour or so, but he could do with just hanging out for a moment, and if Mick decides he has no other pressing matters for the moment, he is only too happy to have his company. It feels a little funny, really, how they seem to be turning into codependent entities, though given that it is not only him that is having this problem, he does not really have too much of a complaint.

The issue of,  _ sleeping arrangements _ , let’s say, somehow comes up, which is sort of relevant, Callum figures, even if they literally have their rooms more or less next to each other. They quickly agree on a rule of no sex before races, which seems very much reasonable, and decides that they will just play it by ear beyond that, given there are two rooms for a reason, as Mick put it, and they will just decide on the night, but also exchanging their spare cards, just to make everything easier for themselves.

Callum pulls Mick into one last time before he really has to go and meet his team to drive to the circuit, whilst Mick says he will have to do some interview features with a few outlets for the day, given China was where his father got his last win, and also sit in a meeting with Gunther over dinner, so they would just text whenever, like they always do.

* * *

_ Wednesday 16:57 CST _

Callum would not say he has a particular opinion on track walks, they are of course useful, especially when you visit a new track, or even revisit an old track, to understand the quirks and kinks of a track, having a real idea of the characteristics or little bumps here and there that he has to navigate around and would come across during a lap. He shivers a little as he not so much sprints, but similar, he sits by window of his room, a blanket thrown around himself, as he still regrets not taking a thicker coat with him when he set off earlier in the afternoon, underestimating the chilliness of the air even when it is already Spring. He flips through his notebook, with his own scrawl on the pages, littered with notes about each corner that he has walked around, little notes here and there about bumps, breaking points, turning points, even things about wind direction and optimal lines and all that. Those are things that he has already had an idea of, but somehow there are just little insights that he found himself gaining as he walked out there, shivering a little as the wind swept across the open track.

He sets down his notebook on the table, instead in favour of picking up his mug with hot tea he had made for himself from the tea bags on offer in the room. He takes a sip, grimaces a little at the tastelessness of the tea, but nonetheless inhales the steam a little, and wraps his hands around the mug so as to absorb more warmth from the cup, and take another sip, just so he could gain some temperature and stop shivering. Idly, he looks out of the window to downstairs, just lazily looking at everything happening downstairs, as he has a good view of the outdoor sitting area of the hotel. He was just going to let his brain wander a little, when he noticed there are some movements downstairs, with a TV camera moving and a boom mic swinging around in the air. Then he sees something familiar in the periphery - blond hair, well styled, and dressed in a black polo that looks like a team kit, when that person sits down across who he thinks is Ted from Sky, he has positively identified that it is his boyfriend doing an interview, as he had told him he would earlier in the day. He zones out a little, contemplating if he should take another shower after all, before a thought comes into his mind, and he pulls out his phone from inside his blanket cocoon, pressing it up against the window and taking a picture of the scene downstairs, sending it to Mick, with a caption of “ _ superstar _ ”, before finally deciding that hiding in bed is probably the best option. He would probably prefer to just stay there forever so he could stay warm.

When dinner time rolls around, having just emerged from under the blankets where he was playing Mario Kart on his switch, Callum contemplates ordering room service, given he has no plans at all, when he gets a text from Charles, asking if he would want to join dinner with ‘the guys’. He would not say he is close to Charles, because he just is not, but given the circle of drivers are generally sort of close anyway, plus they both literally work for the same team, but that is besides the point. He has no idea who ‘the guys’ are, but he also does not see a reason to turn it down, given there is just about one person in the paddock he thinks he would avoid. And yes, it is the one who punched him in the face a few years ago.

So he texts an assent, asking then whens and whereabouts, and grabs something warmer to wear this time and shows up at the place that is down the street from the hotel, seeing Charles arm in arm with Pierre, laughing about something, and there is also Lando, George and Carlos with them, standing outside. George sees him first, his eyes showing some smile lines when he reaches out to pat him on the shoulder, “hey Callum, alright, mate?” Callum greets them all, and immediately delivers a burn about George wearing clothes for once, as they enter the restaurant, which plunges the group into another round of laughter as Lando remarks that no one would fight George’s corner on the matter.

It has been a fun affair, with the guys chatting about everything, things like Charles’ obsession with Euro Truck SImulator, or Lando being told that there are insects on the menu and nearly shrieks in horror; the race weekend is mentioned here and there, but nothing predominant on their minds, and instead is just more like a bunch of mates having a laugh over dinner. Pierre and Charles seem quite touchy feely with each other all throughout, but Callum notes that none of the guys seem to bother about it, and just decides that it is probably normal occurrence with those two, without making an assumption, though with some inkling about what it is. Takes one to know one and all that. At one point, George and Callum conspire together to order a plate of chicken feet without telling the others, just to screw with the others. Neither says anything when the plate is delivered, though Callum pulls out his phone to take a picture of it for Mick, only accompanying it with a text that reads “guess what this is”.

Charles, forever the curious and gregarious one, just picks one up, smelling it and biting it a little, before asking “what is this?” With a look of confusion on his face, while the others just eye that with suspicion.

“Think it’s chicken feet, mate.” George delivers the news like talking about the weather, while Callum is filming the whole exchange, with Charles throwing the offending piece of food as fast as he could, yelling  _ dégoûtant _ , and the same piece of chicken leg nearly hits Lando in the face, who just screams in horror. All of that is captured on film, while Callum and George crack up, on the verge of losing their mind in face of the ridiculousness of the scene. Callum sends the video to George, but also to Mick before he thinks it through.

He gets a text back from Mick a few minutes later.

From: M ❤️️

_ Gunther is now glaring at me because I completely lost it _

_ Dunno how to explain myself with this one _

_ Ur a menace, you know that? _

From: Ilotty

_ aw darling, you love me _

From: M ❤️️

_ Unfortunately I do _

* * *

_ Wednesday 21:17 CST _

Mick is sitting under the covers of Callum’s bed when he returns from dinner, looking freshly showered given how his hair is now falling onto his forehead, and his skin looks a little red, which is unsurprising given how hot Mick turns the showers sometimes. Mick gives him a crooked smile and salutes him as Callum winks at him before stepping into the bathroom to shower. Soon after, he slips into bed next to Mick, who leans down against his shoulder, while he continues to read a book - something in German which Callum cannot make out. They stay quiet for a while, as Callum gets settled, stretching his legs and tangling a little with Mick, before reaching over to get his laptop from the bedside table, opening it up to read his emails and then looking at some funny videos. Mick’s attention is piqued, when Callum finds a video of a man punching a kangaroo in the face to rescue a dog, remarking how stupid that person could be, the book now closed and abandoned on the bed.

Against better judgment, Callum suggests pulling up something to watch, and apparently Mick seems to be in the same boat, because he agrees, and they proceeded to find the Netflix show they have been talking about lately that neither had the time to catch up on, and they nestle together as the episodes play, though sometimes they do not really pay attention to the plot, and instead are talking amongst themselves. At some point Mick asks if Callum is required to be anywhere the week after the race, to which Callum said he does not believe there are any obligations. Mick does not elaborate though, and Callum forgets it soon after, as they realise the time is  _ way too late _ , and just hastily closes the laptop and pulls the duvet over them, muttering that they are so screwed.

* * *

**8 April 2021**

_ Thursday 08:33 CST _

Prior to this, Callum could not really imagine there being any scenario that making Mick moan would be part of a bad turn of events, but when they went to bed way too late the night before, or rather, early in the morning since it was past midnight, their fate was sealed by then already. Callum has managed to extract himself from Mick’s grip before the latter had his bearings straight and knows to weigh him down, thus he has had enough time to get dressed and pack what he needs to bring to track, before finally waking Mick up. It is more like an attempt to wake him up, rather than actually doing so though. Callum feels like he could do with an hour’s sleep, but he thinks he would do just fine, just needing to be careful not to doze off in meetings, make sure he is awake enough to do his reaction exercises, and not to yawn when talking to what little media that is interested enough to talk to him. Mick though, the one who is busier and have actual pressers and autograph session on top of whatever obligations he has with his team, looks like Callum is trying to murder him, and is making noises of protests as Callum tries to pull him up.

“Come on, babe, work with me and wake up, will you?” Callum mutters as Mick continues to hug the pillow Callum has vacated and hides his face beneath it, hair sticking in all directions.

“I hate you.” Mick complains as he rolls around and lets out whatever sound he is capable of making that Callum is at a loss as to how to describe, before finally letting go of the pillow and looking at Callum.

“Love you too, I just wanted to make sure you’re not late for wherever you’re supposed to be at the track today.” Callum answers unfazed, knowing that he has to leave for the track in an hour, and figuring Mick would be operating at a similar schedule.

Mick huffs, but finally gets up, pressing a kiss to Callum that misses the target and ends up on the corner of his mouth, before dragging his feet as he retrieves his phone and walks to the door. He drops his head on Callum’s shoulder one last time, before he exits, as Callum stands by the door to make sure Mick has gone back to his room and not wandered off to wherever else unintentionally. He texts Mick to tell him when he leaves for the track, just so he knows his boyfriend is actually functioning and did not just flop on his own bed and sleep more. He gets a response half an hour later, saying he would manage and telling Callum not to worry.

The day has been relatively busy, even for Callum, which is a mild surprise, but he had sit through more preparatory meetings alongside Charles and Carlos, listening to what they have to say and asks questions where he thinks he need to understand more, and outside of that, he talks to the trackside engineers, going through their practice program for the next day, making notes about what he needs to do or look out for, and sitting in the car to make sure that he fits okay in the car with full gear on, to see if there are any final adjustments needed for his seat, and if he could turn the wheel okay. They also check the pedals are about the correct position, even if he is about the same height as Carlos, the difference of an inch would still be noticeable.

When he gets out of the car, he gets pulled by one of the PR guys to do a sort of Instagram takeover in the paddock, which took up some of his time as well. Afterwards, he gets asked by Sky to talk to them for their pre-race program, and he sat down with Ted to talk about his new role, and also sort of reviewing the previous F2 season (which inevitably leads to his rivalry with Mick), and his outlook for the year.

Then there is another meeting or two in the team that he sits through, before he is finally let out for the afternoon, while other drivers are doing autographs for the reduced crowd, but a crowd nonetheless. He gets stopped twice or thrice by some keener motorsport fans who recognise him for photos, and otherwise roams free a little. A little while later, with the paddock becoming less busy, he spots and stops to talk to George who is hanging out by the William’s motorhome, then runs into a few Alfa guys who he worked with last year for the end of season test and checking in on them. He sees Pierre and Charles sitting somewhere behind the motorhomes on a bench talking to each other, but does not interrupt, and crosses paths with Mick somewhere near race control, but he just waved at Callum, eyes bright, but otherwise continued rushing somewhere with his race engineer in tow.

Callum is about to head out of the paddock and back to the hotel, with the sun starting to go down, and being told that he can leave already if he desires. With Mick only managing to send a simple reply to his texts throughout the day aside from during lunch, he figures he is still busy and they will just catch up at the hotel. He salutes Daniel, who seems in a hurry to leave, himself still just leisurely strolling down the paddock with his hands free - his stuff for tomorrow being left at the garage. It is then, when Callum gets stopped by a call of his name.

“Callum, good man!” Callum turns to the source of the sound somewhere to his side, and sees Will jogging over. “Hello, Will” he greets back.

Will explains to him, with the same enthusiasm and jumpiness he has as seen on the broadcasts, explaining to him that he is looking for someone to do the Post-race show on social media with him, and asks if he would be interested in doing that. Callum is aware of those shows, with Jack - a good friend - having done a few of those over the years, as did Pietro. He tells Will he is interested, but they should also get the green light from his team for that, knowing how they are with the media sometimes.

Will laughs, only painfully aware of how it is with the red team, and says he will reach out, but he will operate under the assumption he has found a presenting partner unless they get told no. He bumps fists with Will before continuing to exit the paddock, joining a few of his team’s crew that he runs into to hitch a ride back to the hotel.

* * *

_ Thursday 18:33 CST _

Mick does not reappear for another hour or two, only texting Callum that he is leaving the track when the sun has disappeared under the horizon, responding to Callum’s latest text. 

From: Ilotty

_ dinner tgt or r u too bzy? _

From: M ❤️️

_ Done for the day finally _

_ The offer still stands? _

From: Ilotty

_ yup _

From: M ❤️️

_ I need a shower first _

Mick looks tired when he walks through his hotel room door, though his frown disappears the moment he sees Callum sitting by the windowsill, turning in time to see Mick. When Mick emerges from the shower, with just a towel around his waist and walks over to kiss Callum, he lets Mick do it, before shepherding him to get dressed and head down for dinner. On the way down, Callum remarks that they should try sleeping in their own rooms just so they do not fuck up the sleep schedule again. Mick pouts, but he agrees that it is probably for the best, conceding that he is feeling absolutely knackered right then.

They pour over the menu, figuring out what fits and what does not fit their nutrition regiment, before finally deciding on something similar, making their order and handing back the menus. They recount their days with each other, keeping the conversation low and quiet, especially given Mick keeps zoning out from tiredness. It is early in the night still when Callum walks Mick back to his hotel room, sitting at the foot of the bed as he watches Mick crawl into bed. After Mick reassures him that going to bed too early would indeed not screw up his sleep schedule worse, they wish each other good luck for FP tomorrow. Mick is already half asleep then, but Callum tells him if he really could not sleep for some reason, he could just come over and crawl into his bed, before leaving for his own room, killing some time mucking around on Twitter before rolling himself into bed as well.

* * *

**9 April 2021**

_ Friday 09:47 CST _

Callum has not really had the chance to catch Mick in the morning, as he woke up, got ready and left for the track early. Of course, Mick could have left even earlier, which is entirely possible, but he is just not aware of his boyfriend’s whereabouts, having just exchanged texts greeting each other good morning and wishing each other luck again for the FP. Callum gets dressed up in the fireproofs, and he feels some goosebumps as he finishes zipping up the red overalls, with the prancing horse emblazoned on it alongside other sponsors. It is something he missed doing, even if he last drove a car just a few months ago, being stuck on the sidelines and seeing others go racing has made him long for it more than he even realised. The session is to begin in less than a quarter of an hour, and he walks out of the garage into the pit box, looking around to take in the atmosphere, seeing team crews shuffling in and out of garages for final preparations, and strategists and engineers on the pitwall already ready for the action. He returns inside and poses for the team photographer at the back entrance to the garage, and he also sees Kym noticing him, and approaching him and wielding his camera, ready to snap a photo or three. He looks straight at the lens, before asking Kym if he would be so kind and share the photos with him, who graciously agreed to.

With minutes to go, he has a final chat with his engineer, putting on the balaclava and his helmet. Lowering himself into the car, there is a thrill coursing through him, and a reminder of how much he misses driving, as well as the realisation that he is about to drive a red car out of the pits, even if it is just for a practice session. He lowers his visor, blocking out all other thoughts, checking the radio connection with Riccardo, Carlos’ engineer, and presses the pedal when he gets sent out, at the start of the session.

[Crofty]  _ As the green flag waves for the first practice session - a new name for this morning in the red car, Ted? _

[Ted]  _ That is right, Crofty, Callum Ilott, the British racer who was the runner up for last year’s F2 season to one certain Mick Schumacher, is in the second red car in place of Carlos Sainz for this session. No rain is to be found to deny his debut this time like in Nurburgring last year. I was told, Crofty, as his Ferrari passes by in the pit lane, that the performance jump we’ve seen between Friday and Saturday for the first two races in the year largely came down to his work overnight. _

[Crofty]  _ Which is interesting considering that he is here this weekend, are they confident that they have figured up their set-up issues this time round? _

[Ted]  _ That remains to be seen, Crofty, I spoke to Mattia just a few moments ago, and he says he is confident this weekend would be better. But speaking of something that would definitely be better, there is car number 44, Lewis Hamilton, the championship leader, exiting the garage and coming down the pitlane. _

[Crofty]  _ There is indeed, the seven... _

Callum drives the car down the first corner, straight out of the pits, trying to get to grips with how the car behaves and responds, as he gets progressively more aggressive around the first lap to find the limits of the car. Even when he has driven more laps than he cared to count in the simulator, the real car just is a little different, as he communicates with his engineer reminding him of the switches to set and the program objective - long run for the first half on the medium tyres. Callum gets his head down as he focuses on pushing the car around corner after corner, opening the DRS when he hears the beep in his earplugs, trying subtly different lines and breaking points as he eyes the dash, searching for the hundredths and thousandths even if it is not the predominant goal for his session, it is in his instincts to do so - as Marcus says, they spend most of their lives racing against a stopwatch.

[Paul]  _ Yeah Crofty, from the first two races it seems Checo is giving Max a run for his money. Make no mistake though, it is still very much Max’s team, and in the end Max has still been beating Checo. Whether that’ll change is anyone’s guess though. _

[Ant]  _ I’m pointing at the screen but Ilott just did a 34.8. _

[Crofty]  _ Yeah, Ant. Callum Ilott has just posted a 1:34.853 on the mediums, which is currently the second fastest time in the session - _

[Ant]  _ Expect the times to come down when teams start strap on the soft tires later in the session though, and again it is just FP1, the times are not that representative. _

[Crofty]  _ Yes indeed. But also bear in mind in 2019, when we last raced here before the pandemic, the fastest lap in the race was set by Pierre Gasly in the Red Bull, which was a 1:34.742. Yes, Ted? _

[Ted]  _ Worth noting that Leclerc is also on the mediums, and the fastest he has currently posted is a 34.887. _

Callum has gone in and out of the box a few times, trying out different set-ups the team has come up with and giving feedback on what he feels about it. He completes another lap on the latest set up, and feels he has gotten a lap together, and may have pushed a bit further than he is supposed to, but when he looks down at the dash after he crosses the start-finish he sees that the delta reads minus three tenths.

Riccardo comes on the radio nearly just as soon. “That was a 34.85, Charles 34.88. Look after the tyres, we are looking at plus four for the run to test the tyre life.”

“Copy.”

He boxed when told, getting out of the car, and does not even bother taking off his helmet as he goes straight to the engineers to look at the data, debriefing with them on what he thinks and listens to what they think on the places they are losing time on, engine power aside. He asks to be sent out again, wanting to make the most of the session, only taking a few large gulps of water from his bottle in the meantime.

“Okay, we’re checking.” Riccardo says, and he gets back to him two minutes later, when Callum has his helmet off and toweling off sweat from his face and hair. “We can move to the high-fuel soft run in four minutes.” Callum just agrees, happy to do anything that involves him driving the car, getting back to getting ready for yet another run. He sees Charles also deep in discussion with the engineers, frowning as he points at places on the paper.

[Crofty]  _...it would appear at this stage that Mercedes is still dominating with Red Bull a close second, no surprises there; then a resurgent Ferrari battling for third place with the Mercedes-powered McLaren... _

[Paul]  _ Leclerc just did a 34.3 on the softs, and Ricciardo a 34.1 _

[Crofty]  _ Indeed, Paul, ‘are Ferrari back?’ I think this is a question that many at home and indeed in the paddock are asking themselves, after they have seemingly lost a lot of horsepower last year. _

“Understeer turn six.” Callum presses on the radio button to provide feedback, as he aborts the lap and lets the cars behind by. He has seen the black and grey cars around the track now and then, though never too distracted to pay attention to whom the driver is of the car. He floors the throttle again as he rounds the final corner to go for another lap.

[Ant]  _ The problem with what is moving under braking is well discussed at this point, I think, when if you remember, a few years ago, we had pretty much the same discussion over the Verstappen rule. They wanted to let them race, so the rule was dropped, but that means there is ambiguity of what will and will not be penalised. _

[Ted]  _ I think the problem is a lot of us would agree that defending the last race we saw is way too excessive, and it begs the question why it was not penalised -  _

[Crofty] _ Two seconds, Ted. _

[Ilott - Radio]  _ What the **** is that Haas doing at eleven? So stupid. That is a crash waiting to happen.  _

[Ilott - Radio]  _ I’ll box, the front is sliding all over the place. _

[Crofty]  _ Well there you - _

[Schumacher - Radio]  _ You have to tell me there is a car on a fast lap there! I cannot see it coming down the straight. _

[Crofty]  _ Here we have the replay - There you have two old rivals getting feisty there, haven’t we? Stablemates as well, considering both are part of the same junior program. _

[Paul]  _ Yeah, it appears… yeah, Mick blocked the corner exit there and the Ferrari clipped its front wing on the back wheel there. Has to be some damage done. _

Callum has been on a fast lap, pushing a bit harder at the behest of Riccardo, who says they want some data on the maximum performance on this set up. He has been up at least two tenths through the first two sector, but just as he gets to turn 11, swinging out left to open up 12, there is a grey car unexpectedly slow, and Callum had to swerve right to evade it, though not before his wing has already clipped the other car. He is immediately on the radio.

“Jesus - what the fuck is that Haas doing at eleven? That is some dreadful traffic management, who slows there?”

“Any damage? Any damage? They told him to do slow recharge from there.” Riccardo asks.

“Not sure, I might have clipped his tyre. So Stupid. that is a crash waiting to happen.”

“Copy, ‘ed down, let us know.”

He navigates around 13, but when he gets to the heavy braking zone at 14, the car squirms and overshoots the corner when he tries to turn in. “I’ll box, the front is slider all over the place.”

“Copy, box, box.”

“Who was that, by the way?” Callum inquires, as he hits the pit limited, bringing the car to a standstill in the box.

“It was Mick.” Riccardo tells him.

Oh fun, that would be a fun dinner conversation, Callum thinks, if Mick got mad at him, though if Mick got mad enough at him, there might just not be a dinner conversation at all. He isn’t sure, trying to think if they have tangled at all before. But the saving grace, if Callum could call it that, is that it is not the other car, in which case he might get punched again, even if at this moment Callum feels it is not his fault.

[Ant]  _ Well, there is not much to look too deep into for the first FP, though there is this incident near the end of session, when Ilott, who I must say has impressed throughout the session, clips Schumacher in the rear at the entrance of twelve, quite an unusual place to tangle, I must say.  _

_ If we look at it from this angle, and as we slowly roll forward the footage, you can see here, the grey car up there is slowing down as it enters 11, you see the red light that indicates the ERS is recharging, and Ilott continues down the straight and brakes as usual, and here - as he turns, you can see the grey car there. Could he have evaded it a bit earlier? Possibly, but that is also not a common spot to have a slow car, but also you have to be alert. I think given only an end plate was lost there, it was an alright reaction. _

_ Now, from the other perspective, you can see Schumacher braking early and going down the gears, probably a good thirty meters before the braking point, and do not accelerate out of 11, and it is this moment, when they touch, you can actually see that piece of carbon fiber fly across the camera here. _

_ If you ask me, I would say questions need to be asked mostly on the pit wall, neither drivers can see the other at that point, and I’d say they both got away with it with minimal damage. _

* * *

_ Friday 11:24 CST _

Marcus watches the coverage live on TV, partly because there is just nothing better to do for him, and he figures he can be supporting his friends, even if it is just a practice session. It is better than sitting around doing nothing, when video games do not take his fancy, and he cannot think of a good film to watch lately. He grimaces when he sees that incident, then yells at the TV when the radio excerpts get broadcasted.

“No, no, Ilott you idiot, shut your goddamned mouth will you?”

Against better judgment, he goes onto Twitter, just in time to see a shitstorm brewing about how Mick is not good enough, or how there is bad blood between those two, and arguments about who is more deserving of a seat and all that, and even Sky, fucking Sky, has made a tweet about that skirmish and making it seem much worse than it really is.

He picks up his phone to shoot off a few texts, praying that it gets read soon enough.

* * *

_ Friday 12:03 CST _

Callum has just got out of debrief with the engineers about the session, getting generally positive feedback from them about his performance and contributions to the data collection, generally fulfilling the objectives they set out to achieve for the session. It was lucky that the incident happened towards the end of the session, so they could just end the session a bit early to check the car, without disrupting their program. Looking at the leaderboard, even if Callum knows that a practice session is not representative of performance, seeing his name sitting sixth is still a very nice feeling, just two and a half tenths off of Charles.

He is still wearing his fireproofs when he picks his phone up, seeing that there are a bunch of mentions of him on Twitter and Instagram, which he does not think much of, before he sees a few texts from Marcus.

From: Marcus

_ You’ve done fucked up, Ilott _

_ Why did you call Mick stupid?? _

_ The media and the internet is having a field day right now. _

That sets alarm bells ringing immediately, as he texts back

From: Callum

_ I didn’t?? What the fuck? _

From: Marcus

_ (Link) _

Callum just stares at the screen as Marcus manages to send him a snippet of the live broadcast, as he listens to what is being broadcasted. He just ties his fireproofs around his waist and walks back out, nodding as an engineer tells him that they have to be at the stewards’ office in thirty minutes, and instead grabs hold of the closest PR person he can find and asks him, “do they think I called Mick stupid?”

The guy furrows his brows as he scrolls through his phone, “it seems it is taken that way, yes. We better fix it, they won’t like it.” He nods at the pitwall.

“Leave it to me. Can you get someone to come with me in case they stick a mic in my face?”

The guy quickly looks around, calling another PR team member to grab his recording pen and to follow Callum.

Sky is on him the moment he steps out of the garage, Craig asking him about the incident, and Callum puts on the most unbothered face he can muster, telling him that it is just a small incident that happens when the track is congested, it is unfortunate, but he does not think Mick nor himself are at fault there, then proceeding to tell him, without even being asked, that it has been a great session and learning experience for him, that he is grateful for the chance and that he is relatively happy with his own performance. If he was looking for a fuming Callum who is going to say juicy stuff, he certainly was not getting any of that.

The PR guy looks satisfied with his answer, as Callum moves down the paddock, stopping to talk to Lawrence from FOM as well, repeating similar sentiments, though this time Lawrence does ask about his sesion first before touching upon the incident.

When he makes it to Mick’s team’s garage, he is there in time to see him walking out back, and sees Ted lurking nearby. Callum slips past them, calling out to Mick, and preempting anything as he loops an arm over his shoulder and maneuvering themselves into the team’s hospitality motorhome, with their backs to the window and out of reach of the media for the time being.

He is alarmed that Mick is not looking at him, when he looks at his face. He shakes his arm a little, as he urges Mick to look at him with a whisper. “Mick, babe, look at me, please?”

Mick does have a reaction when the endearment is used, and he looks at Callum, though his eyes are not sparkling like it usually when he sees him.

“Are you mad at me?”

“Maybe.”

“I’m sorry - I didn’t call you stupid - they took my radio out of context. You’re the opposite of stupid, okay? You’re intelligent, thoughtful, kind, funny and all that. Not stupid.”

Mick sighs. “It’s just shit.” He says, gesturing at the few media outlets that seem to be loitering outside the motorhome. And Callum knows that whether he meant it or not, he is the cause of the situation. All the talk about whether Mick is good enough and all that, that people seem so keen to jump on at any given chance.

“They’ve already asked me and I said it was track congestion and just an unfortunate mishap.”

Mick nods, “okay,” his eyes are less cold, which Callum takes as a good sign.

Mick’s handler approaches them and clears his throat a little, as the Ferrari PR guy comes close as well, telling Mick that he would need to address the questions soon. Mick nods, ready to steel himself, put on his best face and go out to face them. Callum nudges him, and asks “what about we do those together?” He asks, before looking at his PR guy for any objections, who just shrugs, seemingly content with it based on what he said before.

Mick nods, and Callum follows him outside, standing next to him as there is a deluge, mostly from British media, on the incident. Whether they liked it or not, Callum opened his mouth and said his piece first, repeating what he had said before, defusing the situation, before adding that “obviously when you’re on track, stuff gets said in the heat of the moment, and the TV coverage only put in the juicy bits of a whole conversation, but for the record, I have no problems with Mick at all, and I respect him as a racer a lot.”

Mick then finally says his piece, not giving away why exactly he was slow there, though he regurgitated the congestion bit from Callum, and said that teams are running different programs through practice, and it is just unfortunate that they touched a little accidentally.

Seemingly sensing that they are not going to get any drama from them, most of the congregated media disperses, and Callum sees Riccardo and Mick’s engineer walking down the paddock in their direction, and pointing in the direction of the stewards, so they just stand there, waiting for them.

“I’m sorry.” Callum says again to Mick, as they wait. Mick nods, but it is hard to read what he thinks when he is hidden under a cap and beneath a mask, though he at least glanced and looked at Callum, which is an improvement.

They head down to the steward’s office, and they present their side of the events, Mick telling the stewards that he was told by his team to slow down to recharge the battery, and could not see Callum coming up; while Callum saying that he did not see Mick until the last moment, that it is just bad place bad time from his end. In the end the stewards decides to take no further action on the incident, which Callum, biasedly or not, thinks is the best outcome. Their engineers leave them alone, as they leave the office, Mick’s telling him to remember to come to the meeting before the second session, while the one following Callum has no clue what he is supposed to do and just tells him to “do whatever you are supposed to do” - which is change into the team kit and sit in the garage for FP2.

“Are you still mad?” Callum asks, when he gets Mick to himself. They are standing in the stairwell leading down from race control, with a little bit of privacy.

“A tiny bit.” Mick says, honestly. “Mostly not about you though.”

“Does another dinner date tonight interest you?”

“Maybe,” Mick plays it coy, though Callum notices there is some shine back in his eyes, “I’ll think about it.”

That is sufficient for Callum for the time being, instead he leads them down the stairs, and walk together back towards the garages. He notices a few photographers in the distance looking at them, and nudges Mick in the shoulder. “Do you want to pose for them?” He asks.

Mick eyes them up for a moment, as they ask, before nodding in assent. So Mick wraps an arm around Callum’s back, and they both shoot a thumbs up for the cameras as they walk past.

“Drive safe, my love.” Callum whispers into Mick’s ears, as they part. Mick kicks his foot.

That evening, the dinner date did happen, and at the end of the night Callum finds himself in Mick’s bed, and he wraps his arms tightly around his boyfriend, kisses his face and tells him that he loves him, and again that he is sorry.

* * *

**10 April 2021**

_ Saturday 07:07 CST _

  
  


Callum wakes up to Mick playing with his hair.

“Feels good to have a literal angel in my bed.” Callum comments before even opening his eyes, which just earns him a harder tug against his hair. “Ow, watch out, I already have a high enough hairline as is.” He complains.

In truth, Callum has kicked his endearments towards Mick up a notch since the incident, and it seemed to be working, because he managed to make Mick blush more, muttering to tell him to stop being so soppy. It seems to make Mick happy, so he kept doing it.

He kisses Mick, who responds enthusiastically, and when he opens his eyes to Mick staring at him with adoration and a little blush on his cheeks, Callum knows he is being forgiven, and honestly Mick is too good for this world, because he is way too forgiving, and he is still kicking himself for the whole situation. So he just wraps another tight hug around Mick and kisses his nose.

“I love this, but I really need to get up to drive a car.” Mick mumbles.

“Okay, I’ll let you go,” he says, pressing another kiss to Mick’s forehead before letting go and rolling out of bed, stealing Mick’s pink hoodie to slip on, which Mick just rolls his eyes at, before grabbing his phone. He hugs Mick once again, “good luck with qualifying, I know you’ll smash it.”

When he leaves Mick’s room and moves to his own door, he runs straight into Sebastian, who looks at his hoodie, then looks at the door he comes out of, and the door he is about to enter. Callum is standing there, frozen in place, mouth gaping, as Seb just shakes his head, telling him that he did not see him, before continuing on his way. He texts Mick about the fact, who just texts back “oh god he’s going to bug me about it.”

Callum spends the whole day in the garage, smiling at cameras when they pan to him, and his eyes glued to the screen to see the happenings on track, listening to his team’s radio, Charles and Carlos’ comments, but focusing on how a certain car 47 is doing. It scraped by again into Q2, but ended up fifteenth, which is ‘not that bad, could be better’, as Mick had noted that evening, as they both had dinner at Mick’s team’s hospitality building.

* * *

**11 April 2021**

_ Sunday 18:03 CST _

In the end, the race was a bit drab, with both Callum’s and Mick’s team unable to make inroads on their competitors, so Callum is just sat there in the garage again, watching as the cars battle it out on track, Mick making some ground in the initial stages, but the car faltering and falling back as the race drags on, with no strategic genius or safety cars there to aid them, while for Charles and Carlos, the red cars do not fare much better, as they were unable to bridge the gap with the papaya cars, and ended up battling for the tail end of the points.

Callum, true to his promise to Will, went and picked up a mic with him for the post-race shows, giving some insights when prompted by Will and Rosanna, and chipped in with a little questions here and there to the drivers when given the airtime to, including to Mick, asking about the deg of the tyres, noting how the car faltered in the late stages of the race. Mick answered professionally as usual, talks a little about tyre life and heating for the audience, and is sent on his merry way by Will soon after.

After that, he wanders a bit around the paddock, chatting with some people he runs into, congratulating them on their races where appropriate, and just catching up with others, all the while waiting for Mick, who finally emerges a good two hours after the race finishes. Mick just crashes into Callum’s shoulder when they meet, mumbling something to the tune of “thank fuck it’s over.” To be fair the race is a bit of a write-off for Mick, and he did a lot of on track battling nonetheless. Callum decides for them that a cheat day is on the menu, as he just brings themselves back to the hotel, and orders some take-out that is just a touch too greasy to be healthy, but which nonetheless seems to cheer up Mick, who is now smiley and cheeky as he talks to Callum.

Later in the evening, when the takeout containers are abandoned on the floor - allowed because it is Callum’s room - Mick crawls into Callum’s lap, pushing him down as he instigates a kiss that is innocent at first, but then get progressively filthier, as Callum feels a hardon rubbing down against his thigh. Callum’s shirt gets pulled off next, and Mick’s straight after, as Mick fervently kisses him again, which ends up with them panting heavily for air. Callum nearly just cums right there and then, when Mick whispers into his ear, “I want you to fuck me until I forget my name.”

Callum flips them around, pushing Mick into the bed as he kisses down his body, sucking marks where it would be hidden beneath a shirt, licking around Mick’s body at places where it would make him moan loud and drive him crazy, before finally taking off his pants, prepping him, and pushing into him. Mick lets out a drawn out groan when Callum bottoms out, legs wrapping around Callum’s waist, as he urges him to move, or to move even closer, or both. Callum picks a relatively quick pace that is better described as “hammering”, as he pushes in and out of Mick, kissing him dirtily that is all tongue, hearing all the moans and groans and whines that his boyfriend is letting out, both too gone to care if the walls are thick enough or if anyone could hear them. Mick has been turned into a babbling mess, saying things in German and French that Callum could not decipher, beyond hearing his name, and when they climax, they go over the edge almost simultaneously, Mick letting out a silent scream as Callum groans into the pillow next to Mick’s head. Callum pulls out of him, turning on his back, to lie down next to Mick, rather than collapsing on top of him. Mick searches blindly for his hand, and they link their hands, holding onto each other like that is the only linkage between them and this plane of existence.

When they are under the shower, much later, possibly a quick nap later, even, Mick lets Callum spoon him under the hot stream of shower, relishing the feeling as Callum keeps him close, helps to wash his hair, and kneads his muscles where they have gone stiff.

“Thank you.” Mick mumbles as they are both wrapped in a bathrobe, looping his arms around Callum, pressing a kiss on his chest.

“I’ll do anything for you.” Callum whispers into his hair.

* * *

_ Sunday 23:23 CST _

“Do you want to go look at some places with me this week? In Maranello? Sabine helped me to look up some places.” Mick asks, laying next to Callum and staring at the ceiling, having moved to the other room, and holding Callum’s hand on his own chest, playing with his fingers.

“I’d love to.” Callum answers, without even opening his eyes.

“Good, cause I’ve already sorted our flights.”

“Forever the Mister Prepared, aren’t you?”

“Is that a complaint?”

“It’s a compliment.”

**Author's Note:**

> CST = China Standard Time (aka Beijing Time, i.e. Shanghai Time)  
> CET = Central European TIme  
> you can find my side Tumblr for this ao3 a/c: [schulott](https://schulott.tumblr.com/).
> 
> Would you comment pretty please?  
> Also I have to work so idk if I can post again anytime soon but I still have ideas for this AU


End file.
